Powder coatings are an environmentally friendly system, making them a desirable alternative to conventional solvent borne coating systems. Overall, operating and material costs are such that powder coating competes favorably with the solvent and waterborne markets.
Although powder coating represent only a portion of the total market, as compared to solvent type systems, the technology has considerable advantages. Most notably, since powder coating lacks solvent, there are no VOC issues with which to be concerned. Further, since there is less waste generated, the powder coating technique has less impact on the environment.
Powder coating involves several steps, the most critical of which is the premixing of the ingredients. During this initial phase, the binder, together with the other additives are mixed thoroughly in the equipment. Inadequate premix in the first stage could lead to a non-homogenous composition of the coating and poor mechanical properties or surface defects in the final product. The resulting premix is then fed into an extruder. The molten material produced from the extruder is cooled and squeezed into easily breakable strips. The strips are then ready for grinding to a particular particle size range.
The most common method for the application of powder coatings is by electrostatic spraying. The basic principle of this method involves propelling the powder, via compressed air, through a spray gun where it becomes electrostatically charged. In addition to charging the powder the gun also serves to deposit the powder supplied by the feeder. When the electric field is removed, the charged particles are still held on the surface, attracted by charges on the substrate. The uncharged powder in the overspray is collected and reused.
Another commonly used method of powder coating is triboelectric spraying. This is similar to electrostatic spraying, except the particles are positively charged (electrostatically charged particles have a negative charge ). A new technique, that is being developed for flat surfaces, employs electromagnetic brush technology which enables efficient high speed application of very thin layers with no recycling.
Among the drawbacks of thermoset powder coating systems is the difficulty in making tough films from ingredients that are low in molecular weight and therefore able to flow easily under shear conditions. Since the application of the powder coating involves overspraying, specialized recovery equipment is also necessary to reclaim the unused powder. Substrates must also be able to withstand the powder coating cure temperatures which typically range between 150 and 190.degree. C.
The silanes of the present invention advantageously can be used to improve the physical and chemical properties of thermoplastic powder coatings. These powder coating formulations do not require curing agents and can be applied via the aforementioned electrostatic or tribostatic spray techniques. However, most thermoplastic powder is applied by passing the heated substrate through a fluidized bed.
Silanes are known to be useful in liquid coatings. For example in WO 96/39468 sprayable liquid coating compositions are described which include a film-forming reactive silyl group-containing compound and polymer microparticles insoluble in the liquid coating composition. The silyl group-containing compound may be the 1:2 mole ratio adduct of cyclohexanedimethanol and isocyanatopropyltrimethoxysilane.